The Rules of Engagement
by sari15
Summary: Even though he promised he wouldn't, Kyou refuses to let yet another White Day pass without a proper return gift for Tohru. End of Manga Spoilers
1. Chapter 1

**Rules of Engagement**

Part One

Dropping to his knees, Kyou leaned over to grasp the tiny ankle lightly before moving it about three inches away from where it was positioned. Looking up into the awestruck sorrel eyes that stared back at him, Kyou gave an awkward smile before getting back to his feet. "If you keep your stance at shoulder width apart, it makes it easier to move," he explained, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the adoring gaze that peered up at him. _'They're so small...'_ he thought, moving away so the seven year old boy could continue to follow Shishou's lesson without falling behind from the brief interruption.

Taking a few steps away from the kid, Kyou watched as the boy's attention flitted between watching Shishou demonstrate the action he was supposed to imitate--and obviously seeking Kyou's approval for maintaining the stance he'd been shown. Catching the kid's curious gaze, Kyou gave a nod of satisfaction and found himself rewarded with an embarrassed smile that reminded him of Tohru in its innocence. A swell of pride ballooned within Kyou as he broke eye contact with the child, a smile forming on his own face in response. This past month had only cemented his own path within his mind, surprisingly removing most of the doubts and fears he'd had about his choice.

"Kyou, come up here and show them how it's done. If you beat me, I'll wash those mats for you tonight."

Glancing up at his father with an arched brow of disbelief, he knew he was being set up to be completely humiliated in front of the class of beginning students. "Will I still get paid for cleaning them?" he asked, knowing the answer before even asking the question. Though Shishou had given him permission to resume a full training regimen after the events of the previous spring, something which Kyou had jumped into with a renewed sense of spirit, it wasn't the only reason he'd been spending almost every day at the dojo for the past few months.

"I'll even pay you double," Shishou said with a smile, sweeping his arm in front of him to indicate the wide space he'd provided for him in front of the class. "Twice the pay for none of the work, even you can't turn that down, can you?"

Shaking his head, Kyou slowly made his way across the dojo floor knowing he wouldn't succeed but willing to give it a chance, if only for the chance to make a few extra yen in the process. "Yeah...keep talking," he growled playfully, willing to put on a show for the kids if that's what Shishou wanted. "Every word you say makes a few more seconds of your life pass, old man. I'd hate to embarrass you in the middle of class."

"Lesson one," Shishou announced with a smile, addressing the students that stood absorbing the scene in front of them as Kyou took his stance in the open space left for him.. "Just because someone likes to talk a big game, doesn't mean they are the superior fighter. Being humble and modest are wonderful traits; I highly recommend them. Sadly, this is the one student I've never been able to teach that lesson to."

"Huge disappointment for you, I know," Kyou responded sarcastically, aiming for Shishou's shoulder with a burst of energy, only to get blocked by his father's forearm. Turning quickly, Kyou recovered and moved to strike lower with his other hand. Again, getting blocked moments before impact.

"Lesson two, is to know your opponent well," Shishou said with a smile, never taking his attention off Kyou as they moved fluidly together. Each of them blocking the others moves in a way that made the whole thing seemed planned beforehand. "It's much easier to predict and work yourself harder if you can figure out ways to get past an opponent that knows you well. Obviously this particular student still has to work a little harder as I haven't let him connect on anything yet."

"Goes for you too, Shi--" With an arm across the face, Kyou flew back a short distance before landing on the ground with a sharp impact to his left side. "Argh..." he growled, giving Shishou a sharp glare as he slowly slid back to sit on the mat he'd landed on.

"Lesson Three, know your opponents weaknesses," Shishou said turning away from Kyou and back to address the classroom of children in front of them. "I know that Kyou is more likely to be the aggressor and forget to defend himself--which is exactly what he did. You just witnessed what happens when someone lets their guard down, don't follow Kyou's lead. With that in mind, we are going to work on defending ourselves. Thank you for your help, Kyou. I believe you have some mats to finish cleaning."

"Yeah, Yeah...I know," he said, getting to his feet as he watched his father divide the children into pairs. A wry smile gracing his expression, Kyou headed across the floor to grab the final stack of the practice mats in the corner of the room that needed cleaning. Chores like this one were a normal part of his life, always had been. Most kids had grown up having to do the dishes or take out the trash, but Kyou had always had a few chores within the dojo on his list.

_'It feels kinda criminal to get paid for doing this...'_ Soon after Kyou had discussed his plans with Shishou, he'd been approached about a possible way to help earn a little money to help with the expenses of moving and getting Tohru settled into their new life. He'd refused Shishou at first, but his thoughts quickly changed once Kazuma had laid out everything he'd wanted Kyou to do for him.

It had been a huge undertaking at the time, but Kyou couldn't have been prouder of the results. The work had been hard and the money well earned, but in the past six months Kyou had almost single-handedly repaired and remodeled the dojo from top to bottom. Naturally, Kazuma had done most of the preparations and helped out when needed and Kyou had had the occasional assistance from Kunimitsu, Haru, Hiro and Kagura on some of the bigger projects, but in the end, he'd done the most of it himself after finishing his daily training or on the weekends.

Placing the mats on top of the pile he'd formed, Kyou got to work on doing his job. There was only a little over a month before the move and both he and Tohru had been extremely busy planning for their future, which included both of them working longer hours than normal to save even the small amount of money they could accumulate. Spending time with her had gotten harder and harder to come by, mostly since he was not spending as much time around the house as he had before. The majority of their alone time had been spent either at school, or the dojo when she came to visit him on her days off.

She'd been hesitant to invade the dojo to start, but he'd quickly convinced her that her presence was both welcomed and needed for his own sanity. It wasn't unusual for her to visit while he was working on some of the bigger projects, helping with whatever she could. The two of them had painted the entire dojo together over the course of two weekends, something she'd enjoyed assisting with. She'd forgotten to cover her hair on the first day and she'd left the dojo with a large amount of paint splattered within her hair. For several days after, he found himself picking out flakes of white paint from the length of her dark brown hair as he sat behind her in class, something that always made her giggle.

Grabbing the hose from the side of the house, Kyou set himself to the daily task of cleaning off the practice mats at the end of the day. The chore was almost second nature to him as well as holding the position as the one task he'd loathed as a child. It took him a long time to learn how to do the job without getting himself soaked in the process, often leaving him cold and miserable when finally finished. Things hadn't changed that much in the months since the curse's release, water still bothered him as did the rain.

Systematically unfolding each of the mats, Kyou lined them against the outside wall of the dojo as he'd done thousands of times before. Quickly, he gave them an initial dose of water before grabbing a rag from a bucket of soapy water nearby. One by one, he scrubbed them from top to bottom as efficiently as he could, before moving to rinse them off. Just as he'd grabbed the hose again, Kazuma opened the sliding door near where Kyou was working and stepped out of the dojo.

"Hey," Kyou mumbled, pulling the hose to the furthest side of the wall where the first mat stood waiting. "That was your last class tonight, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Kazuma answered, giving Kyou an indulgent smile as he closed the gap between them. "Tomorrow is the day, isn't it? Do you have everything ready?"

Biting the corner of his lower lip, Kyou felt the corners of his mouth curl into a smile as he stared at the first mat he needed to rinse. Heat rushed to his cheeks, still not comfortable talking about something so personal with anyone, even Kazuma. His relationship with Tohru hadn't ever had as much privacy to it as he'd liked to have, his family and her friends had meddled in the middle of it since the very beginning and hadn't stopped once in the months following. "Yeah, I have to stop on the way home and pick up the thing I had to order," he replied, unable to keep the pride from his voice as he walked himself through the plans he'd prepared.

"I can't tell you enough, how proud of you I am," Kazuma said, pulling an envelope from within his yukata and handing it to Kyou. Surprised, Kyou just stared at it in shock, not understanding what his father was doing. It was the same envelope Kunimitsu gave him on payday, but that wasn't for nearly another week. "Just consider it my own return gift for Tohru."

Sliding the seal away, Kyou opened the envelope to inspect the contents within, a check in the amount of what Kyou earned in about a month written out to both Tohru and him. "Shishou, you didn't have to do this. You've already done enough for both of us, trust me. I can't let you do this."

"You don't have a choice; I still have access to your accounts. If you don't put it in yourself, I'll just do it," Kazuma said with a smile, removing the hose from Kyou's hands and taking over the chore for him. "You should probably get going and run your errand, or the store is going to close before you get there. I think that would ruin everything."

Kyou stood there for a moment, a sad smile crossing his face as he watched his father spray down the mats with practiced efficiency. There were many things he would miss in his absence, most of all--the man standing in front of him. "Thanks, Shishou," he said reverently, meaning it from the bottom of his heart as he moved toward the dojo to change his clothes for the trip home.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"A-another one? It's...this is just too much!" Looking around the room, Tohru's cheeks flushed with embarrassment at yet another interruption in class with a delivery for her. Moving to stand, her stomach flipped over nervously as she looked at the bouquet of daisies nestled in the arms of the student delivering them. "Ah...um...Thank you very much!"

Taking the package from the student, Tohru gave a brief bow before scurrying back to her seat on the opposite side of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she sought out a pair of familiar eyes, but they weren't looking in her direction. Heart falling a little, she'd hoped that he'd participated in the school-wide fundraiser for the student council by getting her even _one_ of the items they'd offered. _'That's really selfish of me to think that now. I told him not to get me anything for White Day since it was more important for us to save our money.'_

Taking her seat in front of Kyou, she tried to bury the frustration she felt, knowing it was the final class of the day and there probably wouldn't be anymore gifts being delivered for the rest of the period. She _should_ be thankful for all of her friends who had showered her with gifts today. "Who's that one from?" Arisa asked, leaning forward in her seat as the teacher attempted to gain control of the class after the interruption.

"Um...I'm not...I need to look," Tohru said, pulling the card from the outside of the bouquet to read the not from the sender. Opening up the small paper, the identity of the sender was quickly solved. "It's from Momiji-kun."

"Again?" Three voices replied in unison, one sounding slightly irritated compared to the other two.

"Well, I got balloons from him earlier...and some chocolate before that...and just a small stuffed bunny before that," Tohru said quietly, feeling her cheeks begin to burn again as she recalled all of the things she'd gotten from her friends that day. "Yuki-kun gave me a couple of balloons earlier, plus I got flowers from the two of you. Really...I didn't need anything...today..."

Looking down at her desk, she knew that if she'd had to spend Valentine's Day watching Kyou receive gifts from everyone else, but not supposed to give any herself, she'd feel pretty miserable. He hadn't let her get him anything, so she shouldn't be receiving a return gift from him anyway. All she'd been able to do was serve all his favorite foods for dinner that night. _'It's too late to change any of it though; we'd already made our decision. He must be hating today though, I know I would.' _That was probably why he'd been acting a little distant and irritated the entire day, she'd barely seen him between classes. All she'd wanted was to just spend the day with him, but because they needed every penny they could earn, both of them were supposed to work after school.

Focusing her attention on Mayuko-sensei's lecture, Tohru tried to dispel her groundless emotions and just be thankful for the things she had received from her friends. _'Really, it's not like he didn't want to get me anything...oh! I am the worst!'_ Frustrated with her lack of discipline, Tohru pivoted slightly in her chair in a way that allowed her access to the face of the student in the seat behind her—as long as she could look over her shoulder.

The minor scowl that covered Kyou's face disappeared the moment their eyes met, expression softening as he gave her a hint of a smile. Instinctively, Tohru grinned back at him, unable to contain herself as she turned back around to face the front of the class again. There was just something about Kyou that made her insides flutter to life; even after all this time together.

Class slipped by without much notice by Tohru, the final bell signaling the release of the school day. Leaning over, Tohru gathered her books together and retrieved the flowers from their place beneath her chair as her classmates departed the room. Convinced she had a hold on everything she needed, Tohru stood up to join her friends but immediately noticed that not only was Yuki gone, he'd been working on the fundraiser all day which explained his absence, but Kyou had disappeared too. Eyes widening in shock, Tohru turned to her two friends in surprise.

"He left like the hounds of hell were after him," Arisa laughed, placing a hand on Tohru's head affectionately. "Which, he's probably right about. I can't believe he didn't get you a damn thing today! I could string him from a tree!"

"Oh! It's not Kyou-kun's fault," Tohru defended, not wanting her friends to get upset with him for something that had been her fault. Chewing on her lower lip, she stared down at the flowers nestled in her arms and tried not to get upset that they hadn't been who she'd wanted to get them from. "I told him not to get me anything; it would just be a waste of our money. We need to save as much as we can and I know how he feels about me. I don't need flowers to tell me that. Really...it's fine... "

A slim arm wrapped around her shoulders, leading her from the room at a leisurely pace. "I'm sure six hundred yen wouldn't have done any damage to your savings, don't blame yourself," Saki said softly, her speech inflicting a soothing tone onto the onigiri. "He's just undeserving of your affections. You should punish him; it's what he deserves for being so oblivious to your needs. Tell him you will remain here with us when he leaves."

"Eh?" Tohru cried, stunned by the request by her friend. Turning to face Saki, she clutched her books and the flowers tightly to her chest. "That's not...it's not like that, Hana-chan! I think today was difficult for Kyou-kun too. I know I wouldn't like to see him receive gifts from everyone else who cared for him, but not be able to give him any myself."

"Well, he sure hightailed it outta there," Arisa commented, standing next to Tohru's locker as they approached it. Switching her belongings into her left arm, Tohru attempted to open the door of her locker to retrieve her bag. Giving a tug, the extra baggage with her today became too difficult to handle and it all toppled out of her hands and onto the floor.

"Oh no!" She cried, dropping to her knees to gather up the fallen books and flowers before the students milling around trampled them. "Wait...oh! That belongs to..."

"You are just the cutest thing ever," Arisa laughed, stopping a first year from kicking Tohru's Literature textbook with the palm of her hand. Turning to the kid, she turned on a glare that would make anyone on the receiving end of it shake from fear. "Hey, you! Have some class and pick up a girl's books when she drops them!"

"Oh! No! That's not—you don't have," Tohru couldn't get the words out before she found the kid holding all of her belongings out to her. Flashing him a patented smile, Tohru scrambled to her feet before taking them from him. "Ah! Thank you!"

Mumbling an undecipherable comment in response, he moved away from them quickly and down the hall. "I think you scared him, Arisa," Saki said, taking the books from Tohru's hands and adding them to her own books. Gaze turning to Tohru, a smile formed on the dempa's face as she reached forward and brushed a lock of hair from where it had fallen into Tohru's face. "You are working today, correct? We should get you on your way."

The gentle reminder brought her attention back to the present immediately, eyes widening with panic as she thought of all the things she needed to do before even getting to leave school today. "Ah! I still have to get my balloons from Yuki-kun! He said he'd hold them for me in the Student Council room so I could get them after school. I don't want to take them to work with me, but I'll probably have to," she said frantically, looking over her shoulder at her friends as she reached into her locker to grab her outside shoes. "I don't think I'll have time to stop at home be—_ouch!_"

Stunned, Tohru slowly drew her hand from her locker and stared at the cut on the tip of her finger. It wasn't bleeding, but it had caught her by surprise, leaving her curious as to what had caused it. Attention focused back on her locker, the breath caught in her chest as she found a single perfect pink rose resting across the tops of her shoes. Hope swelled within her chest as she reached in to withdraw the flower from the shoes, careful not to prick her fingers on the thorns again. There wasn't anything attached to it, so she removed her shoes and searched the confines of the locker for a sign of who it was from.

"Pink for Tohru," Saki said, drawing Tohru's attention away from her locker and back to her friends. As much as she loved her friends, the disappointment still struck her painfully as she turned to them. "I think it fits perfectly."

"Oh! You guys didn't have--" Suddenly she noticed Arisa holding a card out to her, her name scrawled across the envelope in a familiar hand. Shocked, she reached forward to take the note, moisture clouding her vision as happiness overcame her. "K...Kyou-kun?"

"Damn straight, if anything he owes _us_ a return gift for letting him near you," Arisa said, picking Tohru's shoes off the floor as they both watched Tohru rip into the envelope with gusto. "Either way, we really would have strung him from the trees if he hadn't gotten you a single thing for today. Lucky for him, we didn't even have to threaten him."

"When did he...I...he didn't leave at all today, did he? Yuki-kun and his friends weren't selling _roses_ either," Tohru commented, confusion laced within her voice. Pulling the letter out of the envelope, she unfolded it carefully before devouring the contents of it.

_Tohru,_

_Sorry, I never had any intention of keeping the promise I made about not getting you anything for White Day. When I stopped to pick up your flower, I'd originally planned on getting a Red Rose, since they're supposed to mean 'love' and all that stuff. I saw this one though and it just seemed more like you. Like Hanajima used to tell Yuki and I...'Pink for Tohru.' That lesson stuck more than I realized it had._

_So, I guess the flower is supposed to be...you._

_Anyway, go take all your stuff to Yuki. No need to drag all that crap to work with you, when he's perfectly capable of taking it all home._

_Kyou_

"Ah! It's from Kyou-kun! He..." Confused, she whirled around to look for her friends who'd suddenly disappeared. She could see the back of the two of them as they made their way down the hall. "Uo-chan! Hana-chan! Wait!"

"Get your shoes on and go have fun. We've done our job. We'll want to hear about it all tomorrow," Arisa said, giving a wave as she held the door open for Saki. Confused, Tohru just stood there and watched as they made their way out of the hall and away from her.

Once she couldn't see them anymore, Tohru looked at her flower again, the sight of it making her grin like an idiot. _'Kyou-kun!' _Hugging the letter close to her, she snagged her shoes from their place on the floor and quickly changed into them. Gathering her book bag and the gifts she'd received during the day, except the balloons, she needed to head to the Student Council room to speak with Yuki. Maybe if she asked nicely, he _would_ be willing to take a couple of her things home for her.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_My Kyou muse has been the most annoying thing lately. He is rebelling at all my attempts at torture, angst and overall making his life miserable by IGNORING it and replacing everything with fluff. _

_He is insisting on a post curse fiction that takes place in the nine months that the manga doesn't really cover, but is before the end of the series. _

_I give up...he's holding his angsty self hostage until I give him Tohru time. I just hope this works...or all my stories and writing are going to be filled with hearts and flowers until he shuts up._

_This was originally planned to be a 'One-Shot' but as I wrote, I realized that the pace I was setting...might be better broken into chunks._

_I think it will be a fanfic coming in three parts._

_I have to return to my Kyou torture soon._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_**I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters affiliated with the Manga and Anime. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya…I am just 'borrowing' them for my own nefarious deeds. I own nothing, suing me won't help anyone.**_

_**Sari-15**_


	2. Chapter 2

The Rules of Engagement

**Part Two**

Tohru was convinced that the only thing she'd received today that Yuki might have to take home with him, were the balloons he'd given her. It was that very fact that made her feel guilty about the entire thing. _'I can't just ask him to take home his gift; it would make me seem so ungrateful. I'm not! It made me so happy to get a return gift from Yuki.'_

The idea of sending him home with all of her gifts seemed like an unnecessary burden, she could handle most of them herself. Carrying to the two bouquets she'd received, as well as Kyou's flower, she could handle them fine. The chocolates and stuffed bunny fit in her book bag; they didn't require use of her hands. _'I should be able to handle the balloons too. I can hold the flowers in my arms, the bag on my shoulder and the balloons in my hands. It's pointless to make him help me with something I can do myself; I'd just be a burden.' _

Mind made up, Tohru intended on doing what she'd planned to begin with, picking up the balloons and taking them with her to work with the rest of her belongings. Placing unwarranted responsibility on Yuki wasn't something she wanted to do. He had enough to worry about with all of the Student Council activities they'd planned for today, he probably had plans with Machi after school anyway. _'It wasn't just White Day for me. It would be rude to interrupt on Yuki-kun's plans to take time out of his day with Machi to care of me.'_

Clutching the flowers tightly, Tohru approached the Student Council office, surprised to find the room blocked by a large number of students outside of the door. Just getting into the room to pick up her gift looked as if it would be a chore in itself. Overwhelmed by the sight, Tohru just stood there and watched the students nudge and shove each other rudely in attempts to get further in the line. _'I hope Yuki-kun's not in the middle of this...'_ Even though the Jyuunishi weren't cursed any longer, any large group of people in a confined space instantly made her think of how they would handle it. A lifetime of instinct was a difficult thing to break; she knew both Yuki and Kyou still avoided crowds as much as they could.

"Stop shoving!" A voiced yelled above the crowd, anger and anxiety laced within the words. The mob appeared to shuffle around as a pair of students attempted to exit the room. "We had a _line_set up out here! _A line!_ What happened to my line? _What happened to my clipboard? Who took--"_

A giggle swelled within her throat, watching as a hand lifted above the crowd with the clipboard clutched within it. "Chibi-suke! You let the fan girls get it again didn't you?" A pair emerged from amid the crowd, Tohru recognizing both of them as members of the student council. The shorter of the two scowling at the crowd in disgust while the taller being the owner of the hand she'd seen lofted above the crowd, a giant smile plastered on his face. "I know it's hard to get around, being so short that you're bound to be crushed like a bug, but to _lose_ your _clipboard_? For shame!"

"_You!_" Nao turned toward his co-worker, surprise evident in his movement. The smaller boy obviously hadn't known that Kakeru was the culprit until that moment. Eyes narrowing, his hand jutted out demandingly as he glared at the older boy. "Give it back! Don't you take anything seriously? I knew that this was a bad idea! No one ever listens to me, though...jeez..."

"Bitter much? Lemme guess..." Kakeru looked down at the younger boy, a mockingly thoughtful look on his face as he tapped the clipboard lightly against his own head. "You...didn't...get...any chocolate this year," he replied seriously, a grin slowly covering his face as he brought the clipboard down to this side. "Why should anyone have a White Day when Shorty here doesn't have any return gifts to give?"

"You...," Face flushing a deep shade of scarlet, Nao's fists clenched tightly at his side as he glared at the vice-president. Tohru wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger, but it was probably a mixture of both. "You don't know anything! I just think this is a waste of our time and money. I've blown up more balloons today that I've ever wanted to see in my life and we missed an entire day of class. Finals are coming up soon, you know!"

"You're just jealous 'cause all the girls just want Yun-Yun to be the one handing out the balloons. Seriously, Chibi, you've got an obsession with--uh...Honda-san?" A look of confused recognition registered in Kakeru's dark eyes as he suddenly stared blankly at her. Standing there for a moment, Tohru felt a little uncomfortable under the gaze, as if she shouldn't be standing there and it took her a moment too long to respond. By the time she'd opened her mouth to greet him, his expression changed, eyes wide with surprise as he gave her a grin. "Oh! _Honda-san is here!_ Wow...I uh...it's_Honda-san!_"

A little shocked at the overzealous announcement; Tohru blinked with surprise as she stared at the vice president, holding her gifts a little tighter against her chest. "Um...I came to find Yuki-kun," she said quietly, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as the surrounding crowd began to murmur around her.

Within moments, the crowd began shifting and moving restlessly, their chatter getting louder and louder as they pushed and shoved against each other like a herd of anxious cattle. _'I can't believe...' 'Again?' 'Could have killed...' 'I can't see! I can't...' _Curious, Tohru tried to listen to what the crowd was saying, but there were too many kids talking at once and she couldn't focus on one long enough to understand what had happened to cause such a stir. By the time she'd attempted to focus on one of the students, a grinning face was in front of hers, brown eyes bright and teeth startling white as he blocked her view. Taken aback, Tohru leaned away slightly in effort to get some space between them.

"What _now_?" she heard Nao yell as the crowd got out of his control.

"Happy White Day!" Kakeru said, finally taking a single step away from her as he dug his free hand into his pockets as if looking for something. "Um...Shorty! Here..." the teen handed the clipboard back to Nao, only to move it away from the kid again as he switched the hand he held it in as he continued to search in his pockets distractedly. "I swear I had something in here..."

"You're supposed to be _helping_ me!" Nao growled, snatching the clipboard as it came into reach again before clutching it tightly to his chest possessively. He looked like he was having difficultly trying to manage both the unruly crowd that was getting more and more out of control and Kakeru...who just tended to be unmanageable to begin with. "What on earth is going on in there? _Stop shoving each other! What happened to my line! One at a time!_"

Watching as Nao turned his attention to the bigger of the two problems at the moment, Tohru doubted he'd be able to get control of the crowd himself. "Um...shouldn't you be helping Sakuragi-san with the line?" she asked, wondering how she would be able to get into the room herself and still get to work in time. There were so many students standing around waiting to get their gifts, it would take forever to get to the front of the line.

Face twisted in concentration, Kakeru looked confused as he pulled his hand out of his pocket. "Chibi? Nah...he'll be fine...darn it! What did I do with those?" With a shrug of indifference, he brushed the lint from his fingers with a flourish before giving her a lopsided grin. "I had something for you, but I think I left it inside the room. You willing to brave the madness of the fangirls for a miserly trinket from a loser like me?"

"Eh?" Tohru's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected offering. Kakeru's hand held out in front of her, she couldn't help and think about how strange and different their relationship was from a year ago. It had been around this time last year that she'd even _remembered_ who he was, beyond someone who'd befriended and helped Yuki when he'd needed a friend the most. "I...you...Manabe-san! No! You already do so much for both Yuki-kun and Nakao-san, which is all that I could wish for."

"Come on," he urged, grabbing her hand when she didn't take the one he'd offered. Tohru felt her cheeks quickly flush with embarrassment as he pulled her behind him. Trying not to stumble, she found herself dragged into the middle of the swarm of agitated females waiting to enter the room. "It's gotta be in here, besides...you're here to see Yun-Yun aren't you? No use standing out here when he's inside. It's not like you're one of them."

Mortified, Tohru let Kakeru tow her behind like a run down automobile, doing her best to ignore the outbursts and snide comments that followed behind her. The mobs of female students were obviously not happy about her preferential treatment by the vice-president and were voicing their opinion loudly. "Kakeru! Where are you going? _Get back here! You're just causing more problems!_"

Apparently, one secretary had no problems voicing his opinion either.

Clinging tightly to her precious belongings, Tohru tried to avoid running into anyone as she moved through the crowd, a difficult task even if she had control over the direction she was moving in, which she currently didn't. Ignoring the complaints from his co-worker and the crowd, Kakeru safely brought her to the Student Council office with as little damage as either of them could manage. "Ta-dah!" he said with an abundance of theatrical drama, releasing her hand as soon as he pulled her away from the crowd of students. "We made it. See? Stick with me and you can't go wrong!"

"Ah! More flowers? More flowers for Kimi?" With a squeal of delight, the other secretary of the Student Council pounced on Tohru almost instantly, invading her personal space to a degree that Tohru felt the need to tighten her hold on her belongings in case Kimi Toudou really did feel the need to relieve Tohru of the flowers she'd received today. "Kimi loves getting flowers!"

"Hey! Stop that!" Kakeru growled, reaching between the two girls to separate Kimi from Tohru. She felt a little guilty for the way her entire body relaxed once Kimi was at least arms length away from her. "Give a girl some room to breathe! You can't go stealing other girl's gifts! It's not right...except Yun-Yun. You can steal the princesses' gifts; he'll probably just give them to Machi. Not like they'd care either way."

From across the room, a small bouquet of flowers flew and hit Kakeru squarely in the head, petals falling from it to sprinkle across his face before the rest of the package tumbled to the floor. A look of surprise crossed his face quickly, before disappearing into another grin. "Yun-Yun doesn't like being called a princess," he laughed, bending down to pick up the bouquet and handed them to his classmate. "Here...you can have these flowers, Kimi."

"These ones are_damaged_, Kakeru! You are so _mean_ to Kimi!" Kimi whined, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at her friend. Tohru idly wondered if she could slip away without either of them noticing her, but just as she moved to put a little more space between the two of them and her, Kimi turned and lifted a finger in her direction. "Kimi wants a flower like that!"

Feeling trapped by the attention, Tohru clung to the flowers held in her grasp, looking down at them with longing before glancing back up at Kimi. "Um...I don't...um...these..." she trailed off, staring at the two bundles of flowers she'd received as well as the single rose Kyou had given her. People who she cared and loved immensely had given them to her. She wouldn't be able to part with a single one of them. "I am sure that...um...Toudou-san..."

"You have a pile by the door," a quiet voice said from behind Tohru. Instantly recognizing the familiar tone, Tohru couldn't help but let a giant smile grace her features. "Taking Honda-sempai's gifts would be pointless."

The excitement quickly turned to embarrassment as her cheeks flushed, hearing the familiar honorific the younger girl insisted on attaching to Tohru's name. Yuki's girlfriend had become nearly a staple at the Sohma house in the last couple of months, slowly assimilating to the atmosphere of the house and often staying to eat dinner with Yuki and the rest of the family. "K-Kuragi-san!" Tohru said happily as she turned to greet Machi, genuinely pleased to see the younger girl, a familiar and comfortable face in the middle of a strange environment.

"Maaaaaachi! Did you see it though?" Kimi said, reaching over Tohru's shoulder to snatch the single pink rose from the pile of gifts Tohru held. "It's not one of those cheap ones everyone else got!"

Pain ripped through Tohru as the flower left her hold, watching as Kimi inspected it closely. "Um! No! That's from...it's...all...the only...Kyou..." Panic-stricken and upset, Tohru moved forward to take her flower back but it was removed from Kimi's hands before she had a chance to retrieve it.

"Of course it's not," Kakeru said, a slight note of annoyance in his voice as he handed the flower back to Tohru. "I bet that Orange Guy got it for her, why would he get her something everyone else got? Even Yun-Yun didn't waste his money on that crap for Machi."

"Ten yellow roses," Machi said, putting a hand on Tohru's shoulder and pushing her away from both Kakeru and Kimi. "I received ten yellow roses and one white rose."

"Eh? Why eleven?" Tohru said, frowning with confusion as she tried to figure out the couple's odd relationship for not the first time. _'Yuki-kun is always doing weird things for her...I don't...understand...'_ "Don't they usually sell roses by the dozen? Why would he buy them individually? Why did he get one of them as white?"

"He sold one to his cousin," Machi replied, as if that answered all of Tohru's questions. With a sigh of confusion, Tohru felt like her head was running around in circles. _'It doesn't make sense!'_

"Um...does that mean that this is supposed to be _your_ flower, Kuragi-san?" Tohru said, shoulders falling in defeat as she held out the pink flower to the younger girl. With every step, Tohru felt more and more defeated and confused about what was going on. Uncertainty crossing her expression, Tohru tried not to get upset as she asked for answers. "I don't understand."

"No, I prefer eleven," Machi answered, her tone matter of fact as she walked behind Tohru a step, head lowered as if she watched her feet with every step she took. "Would you prefer one rose or a dozen?"

Blinking, Tohru paused in her movement as she thought about the question. "Um...I would rather have one rose than a dozen," she answered truthfully. The sentiment was the same no matter how many flowers you received and the other eleven roses she wouldn't need. They were an unnecessary expense when one rose would mean just as much as a dozen.

"Well I believe buying a dozen roses would receive a better bargain than buying eleven individually. Apparently both Yuki and his cousin were shopping in the same flower store last night," Machi said, taking the lead as she led Tohru behind the tables where Yuki stood handing out balloons to the students in line. Surrounded by ribbons, the ceiling was covered with balloons. Yuki appeared to be working alone, handing each customer their gift. "They came to the same conclusion...with a little prodding."

Tohru giggled, understanding finally dawning as the image of Yuki trying to convince Kyou to pool their gifts together entered her mind. "I bet that took quite a bit of prodding," Tohru said, happiness returning as her imagination kicked into drive. Though the relationship between the boys had changed dramatically in the past several months, their interactions still tended to consist of a strong sense of competitiveness and arguing. That probably wouldn't ever change. "Luckily Kyou-kun didn't get them kicked out of it or neither of us would have gotten any flowers!"

"Ah! Honda-san!" Yuki said, looking down from the balloons he was gathering in the back corner of the room. A rare genuine smile graced his elegant face as they approached him. "How was your day today?"

"Wonderful! Thank you ever so much for the balloons! I feel as if everyone spoiled me today, I'll barely be able to carry it all home!" Tohru replied, too happy at seeing her housemate to notice the comments from the students waiting in line.

"You're heading to work after this, aren't you?" Yuki said, grabbing a ribbon as he pulled a fourth balloon into the bunch he was holding. Turning away from Tohru, he handed them to the waiting recipient, who flashed both Machi and Tohru glares before storming out of line and out the door. "Ah...Machi? Can you get me six balloons for the next customer? You're back helping me again, aren't you?"

With a nod, Machi moved to gather several of the balloons on the other side of the office, giving the two of them a little privacy. "I don't want to cut in front of everyone like this," Tohru mumbled, finally noticing the irritated expressions on the faces of almost every girl in line. "It's just that Manabe-san brought me back here when he saw me out front and everything had gotten a little hectic. Then Kuragi-san brought me over here...I'm sorry if I'm causing any problems for you, Yuki-kun."

"No! Trust me! It's not you that's causing problems today," Yuki said with a thread of exasperation in his voice as his gaze darted for the window. Hand lifting to brush the hair from his eyes, Yuki shook his head in disbelief before looking back at Tohru. "You don't cause people problems. I don't think you could if you tried, Honda-san. It's more like...err...never mind."

Chuckling to himself, Yuki grasped the proffered balloons from Machi and moved to hand them to their waiting owner. Machi stood next to him, crossing off a name in a notebook on the table before heading back to gather balloons for the next girl waiting in line. "Anyway, I'm heading home before going out tonight. Why don't you just leave your stuff with me? You get off so late and I can get everything there for you right away."

"Oh! No! Really! I can handle it all, I know I can," Tohru said, hugging her flowers tightly against her chest, the cellophane crunching loudly with the movement. "I don't want to burden you with something extra! Really! I can handle it all."

"It's not a problem, Honda-san," Yuki said, turning to Machi as she approached again. Grasping the balloons in hand, he gave yet another girl her White Day gift as Machi moved to gather the next customer's gift. "Really, I would feel better taking them for you. You need to be aware of your surroundings and have your hands free that late at night. If something happened to you because of a few balloons..."

"I...um...I'm sure...I..." Sighing with defeat, Tohru just nodded her agreement as her chin fell down in concession. _'When he puts it that way, there really isn't anything I can say...'_ Reluctantly, she removed the bag from her shoulder. "O-Okay. Um...where should I put everything?"

"Just hand them here, I'll make sure everything is safe," Yuki replied, taking the bag from her before lifting his hand to receive the flowers. Tohru handed them to him hesitantly, deciding at the last second to take the rose from them before letting him take them. "I promise to get them home safely."

"I know you will. Thank you, Yuki-kun," Tohru said, watching as he placed her belongings beneath the safety of the front table where he could keep an eye on them. Feeling a little embarrassed, Tohru's eyes scanned the room and landed on the clock on the wall. _'It's later than I thought!' _Carefully clutching the rose in her hand, she waited as Yuki gave the next customer their gift before he turned back to her"I should get to work before I am late."

"There's just one more thing," Yuki said, a small package held out in front of him as he offered it to her. With an annoyed sigh, his eyes darted to the nearest window before coming back to land on her with a sheepish smile. "This is from someone who tends to cause trouble wherever he goes..."

"Oh? I can't...it's..." The initial shock melted away as the writing on the note revealed it to be from Kyou. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassed pleasure as she reached out to retrieve the gift. Just smaller than the size of her palm, it was wrapped with a delicate rice paper that she feared would rip just by moving it. "It's from Kyou-kun?"

"He said you could go ahead and open it here," he said, giving her a smile as he continued to work along side Machi. Grinning back at him, Tohru tore into the letter feeling ridiculously pleased by this turn of events. She hadn't been expecting anything from Kyou and now she'd gotten_two_ gifts! Juggling both the newest present and the rose, Tohru attempted to unfold the letter so she could read it.

_Yeah, this one will probably be obvious once you see what it is. I just had to do it. Make sure to show them off to the damned rat. _

'_Okay, I wonder what that means?'_ Slowly she peeled back the paper, revealing a delicate orange fabric. "Oh!" she laughed, realizing what the gift was almost instantly. Pulling the rest of the paper from the gift, she unraveled the ribbon, only to find out it was in fact _two_ of them. "Hair ribbons!" she cried excitedly, placing the letter and the rose on the table before quickly moving to pull out the navy blue ribbons currently adorning her hair so she could put the new ones in.

Though she didn't wear the one that Yuki had given her very often, Kyou knew where she'd gotten it from. Every time Tohru had worn it since they'd gotten together, Kyou had commented on how he needed to replace it or had just removed it from her hair if he was bored. Grinning, Tohru expertly tied the first ribbon into her hair, as Yuki turned back to her.

"You're got to be..." he growled, a look of disgust covering his face as he got his first glance at her gift. Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes and turned away from her. "Orange isn't a good color on you, Honda-san."

Tohru giggled, finishing with the second ribbon before pulling one of the ends out slightly to get another look at it from the corner of her eye. "I like them!" she replied happily, grinning as she picked up her belongings from on top of the table.

"I know you do," he muttered with an annoyance that almost seemed feigned. With a sudden sigh, he started chuckling to himself as he walked away. "Stupid cat, I hope it was worth it...making me give her those."

Confused, but still too happy with her gift to care too much, Tohru waved to Machi before trying to slip out of the student council room as unnoticed as possible. "Oh! Honda-san! Wait!" Turning to the voice, Kakeru jogged across the room and held something in his hand, lifting it in front of her as if he waited to drop something into her waiting hand. Curious, Tohru held out her hand to him and was rewarded with a small Mogeta eraser in return. "Happy White Day!"

"Thank you!" she laughed, genuinely surprised by the offering that sat in the palm of her hand. Lifting her face up to him, she smiled happily as she closed her fingers around the small trinket. "I love Mogeta!"

Hand lifting to the back of his neck, he looked a little uncomfortable and refused to maintain eye contact. "Yeah...I thought you did. It's just...it's nice to see you smiling. I don't take that for granted. Anyway...I know you gotta get to work or something so I'll see you later."

"Thank you, say 'hi' to Nakao-san for me," Tohru said, slipping out the door to finally head to work.

_Twenty Minutes Earlier..._

Feet skidding across the floor, Kyou grabbed the doorway in an effort to slow his motions to a standstill. Even with all of his training, sprinting across the building wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be. Every jagged breath he exhaled reminded him that he'd finally reached his destination with a minimum of problems. Gaze lifting from the floor, Kyou continued to use the doorway to help him stand as he sought out the person he'd came to see. Keenly aware of the audience that had emerged; the entrance had earned him the attention of every eye in the room but one. "Must you always make such a racket?" Yuki said, never taking his eyes off the notebook sitting on the table in front of him.

Kyou frowned at the gawking audience that stared back at him, feeling as if he'd been placed on display. Being the center of attention wasn't something he had ever been comfortable with. "You said to get here right away!" he growled, the pain within his lungs relaxing with every moment that passed. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"If you're going to be this way about it, you can just go," Yuki said, looking over his shoulder at Machi as she brought him a bundle of balloons to give the first girl in the short line. The manner in which Yuki answered him would have angered Kyou a year ago, but he understood it to mean exactly how Yuki had implied it. _'Aren't I the one doing you a favor?'_

"No...it's just...argh!" Kyou growled, cheeks flushing slightly from the gentle set-down by his cousin. Shoving away from the door to enter the room as a large group of girls came up behind him to wait in line, Kyou gripped the small package tightly in his fingers as he strode across the room. "Never mind, you said you'd do it. So, here!"

Reaching the table, Kyou dropped the small wrapped gift in front of his cousin before dropping his bag to the ground so he could dig out the note that would accompany it. A loud gasp drew his attention as an attractive dark haired girl quickly closed the space between where she'd been standing collecting balloons to rush to Yuki's side. "Yun-Yun is cheating on Machi?"

"What on earth..." Yuki sighed, eyes closing as his entire body slumped in exhaustion. Kyou got the distinct impression that this wasn't atypical behavior for the girl. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Kimi knew it was was a lie, because if Yun-Yun didn't want Kimi then he was just using poor Machi as a front!" Moving as fast as lightning, suddenly the girl had her arms wrapped around Machi as if she was attempting to comfort the younger girl. Machi, in response, stood as ridged as steel, reaching for another balloon as if the scene wasn't happening to her at all. "I promise everything will be okay! Kimi has lots of boys that wouldn't mind dating a girl like Machi."

"A girl...like me," Machi replied looking disinterested. Though she didn't seem to care either way, the way in which the comment was spoken came out as more of a question than anything.

"I'm afraid to ask," Yuki sighed, head dropping into his hands in defeat briefly. With an exaggerated exhalation, he turned to look at the two girls locked in a semi-embrace. "I suppose you'll tell me either way though won't you?"

"Kimi knew this would happen sooner or later, but for Yun-Yun to flaunt his boyfriend in front of Machi is just cruel!" The room fell silent as Kimi's words processed for all to hear them. Choking on the absolute horror that the very _thought_ brought to mind, Kyou literally felt the bile rush into his throat and feared speaking else his lunch emerge from the confines of his stomach. "Kimi thinks it is very romantic though! Don't you think so, Machi?"

"_Don't think about it!_" Yuki screamed, leaping from his chair so quickly it clattered to the floor. Expression of horror identical to Kyou's from the crimson face to the clenched hands.

"I...I didn't bring that for _him_! Are you a moron?" Kyou yelled, finally able to speak again. His hands clenched the card in his hand, wrinkling it a little within them.

"Oh! You brought it for Kimi?" She turned her face in his direction, still clinging to Machi as the younger girl continued to gather balloons disinterestedly. Her expression transformed, eyes beginning to sparkle, a smile gracing her features as she turned all of her attention to Kyou, slowly detaching herself from the treasurer as she turned on all of the charm she possessed at the former neko. "Kimi has a new admirer?"

"Who the hell are you?" he growled. In his cluelessness, Kyou didn't even process the fact that the girl was attempting to flirt with him. Kimi pushed away from Machi and moved to grab the small present off the table. Noticing this, Kyou moved to grab it himself, but Yuki's reflexes were faster. Both Kimi and Kyou hands smacked together as they collided where the present had been resting moments before while.

"Kimi's never dated a boy with orange hair," she said, grasping his hand before Kyou could take it away. Yuki picked his chair off the floor and sat down again, present in hand as he pretended to ignore the scene in front of him. "It might be fun!"

"_D-date? What are you nuts?_" Kyou struggled for a moment to get his hand from Kimi's grasp while simultaneously trying to walk away from the table to get some more space between them. With a final tug, his hand was released and Kyou clutched it tightly to himself for fear of losing it again.

"Kimi, stop torturing Honda-san's boyfriend!" A voice rang out from behind Kyou, a voice that Kyou recognized but couldn't put a face to until the speaker stepped next to Kyou. '_Eh...it's that one kid. I don't remember his name...' _He wondered if he'd ever known his name or if he'd just known him as 'Yuki's friend' or 'Machi's annoying brother'.

_'Nakao Komaki'_ Tohru's voice chimed in his head and that was all he'd needed to jog his own memory. _'Manabe Kakeru, he's that girl's boyfriend. Funny how with all the connections he has, it's the one with Tohru that makes me remember.' _ Kyou wondered briefly if there was any significance to that fact.

"_Eh?_ How can Yun-Yun's _Sugar mama_ have a boyfriend?"

Kyou blinked, too stunned to do anything but stand there staring at the two of them_'His what?'_

"Kimi, don't speak if you don't understand," Manabe sighed, shaking his head sadly at Kyou's obviously shocked expression. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to be torturing the fan girls? You are slacking at your job!"

"Kimi forgot!" she gasped, turning back to watch as Yuki handed a girl the balloons she'd been waiting to receive. Kyou noticed how long the line had gotten when he hadn't been paying attention. The room was practically full with girls all trying to push to the front and the line was already way past the doors entrance. "Maybe if Yun-Yun were to kiss Kimi and Yun-Yun's cousin tried to step in to save Kimi..."

"Keep me out of your messed up plans!" Kyou growled, moving to pick up his bag in an effort to get himself out of the room as quickly as possible.

"You have a job to do!" Out of seemingly nowhere, a short kid, clipboard in hand, stormed up to the two jokesters and grabbed Manabe by the ear before dragging him away from his co-conspirator. "You promised things wouldn't get out of control! Look at that! Things are turning into a mad house out there!"

"Ow!" Manabe wailed; his every step marked with a healthy dose of bad acting as he was pulled out of the room. "Chibi-suke! Leggo!"

"Is that all?" Yuki said, holding up the gift for Kyou to inspect. Cautiously eyeing Kimi out of the corner of his eye, Kyou slowly walked over to Yuki and handed him the note that accompanied the gift for Tohru. Taking it from him, Yuki nodded, before shoving both of them in his pocket. "You should get going before—"

"Oh! _Honda-san is here!_ Wow...I uh...it's _Honda-san!_"

"Honda-san gets here," Yuki deadpanned. Kyou's eyes widened, sheer panic rendering him frozen as he stared at Yuki in horror. Shaking his silver hair with disbelief, Yuki rolled his eyes as he turned away from Kyou. "Good luck..."

"Damn it! She can't see me! What am I gonna do?" Kyou cried, slamming his hands on the table in front of him before whipping his head around to check the door for Tohru's entrance. _'I don't see her yet...'_ Scanning the room in a panic, he searched for an alternate escape but didn't find another door. "What the hell? How am I gonna get out of..."

Gaze landing on the window directly behind his cousin, Kyou gripped his bag and launched himself over the table and sprinted to it. "What are you doing, you idiot?" Yuki asked, coming to his side as Kyou shoved the window open. "You know you aren't—"

Slipping out the window, Kyou didn't even look to see how high off the ground he was before dropping to the ground. "A cat." Yuki finished with a sigh, hearing the murmur of the crowd increase behind him as he shoved his head out the window to speak to his cousin. "You know, there's a closet nearby that I've spent some time in. It's not fun to be there for too long, but I'm sure it would have served nicely until Honda-san left."

"Damn it! You tell me that _now_! I think I twisted my ankle," Kyou growled, inspecting his foot from where he landed painfully on the ground. It had been a two-story drop, nothing he hadn't done before, but he'd had his cat-like grace and landed on his feet without any problems the last time. Today, he'd fallen on his ass painfully. "Dang it, that hurt!"

"Can't say I'm not surprised. You're lucky you didn't break anything," Yuki said, smirking at him as he reached up to pull the window closed, leaving Kyou alone to deal with the consequences of his actions. Slowly, the former neko got to his feet, gingerly testing his weight on his injured foot before limping to his next destination.

_**I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters affiliated with the Manga and Anime. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya…I am just 'borrowing' them for my own nefarious deeds. I own nothing, suing me won't help anyone.**_

_**Sari-15**_


End file.
